Reviewing and putting a score on a free game that’s been created in a limited environment with the sole purpose of helping the public improve their physical well being during a global pandemic is… well, it’s a tough one. Do you critically analyse it and pick apart its faults and limitations? Or do you simply view it for what it is? Well, we’ll try and do both; let’s dive right into it.
Jump Rope Challenge is, as mentioned, a completely free game that will be available on the eShop until the end of September. It was created by Nintendo devs whilst working from home during lockdown, and designed to give you a bit of a gentle push if, like us, you’re starting to feel the ‘weight’ of the pandemic lockdown, if you get our drift.
As a package, the game is – given the conditions of its development – naturally quite limited. The objective is as simple as can be: use the Switch’s Joy-Con to simulate a skipping rope, and jump as many times as you can. The game sets an initial target of 100 jumps per day, but you can easily increase this target to whatever you wish in the game’s settings. You can play on your own, or cooperatively with another local player. The actual act of simulating a skipping rope is remarkably authentic, and the Joy-Con even vibrate as you move your arms, making it even more life-like.
Since you need to use the Joy-Con to play Jump Rope Challenge, you cannot play the game in handheld mode (we did in fact try to download it on a Switch Lite, and the eShop gives you a nice warning to advise you of this). You can, of course, play using the Switch’s kickstand, but we found the best method is using docked mode on the big screen, particularly if you want to tackle the game with family members or friends.
Visually, the game is again pretty simplistic; your ‘character’ is a cute little bunny rabbit that jumps in time to your movements. There’s a numeric counter displayed front and centre to help you keep track of how many jumps you’re on, and you can even change the rabbit’s costumes on the fly (although we probably wouldn’t recommend mirroring this and jumping in a three-piece suit).
Once you reach 100 steps on any given day, the game also switches up the background, starting with an adorable cat and also incorporating a relaxing beachfront, and even the surface of the moon. Annoyingly, the cat background also includes the sound of a cat meowing every time you jump, which after a while can be a bit grating. We’d probably recommend muting the game and listening to music if you feel similarly.
All in all, yes the game is very limited. And yes, it’s unlikely to keep most people interested after a few days. But we have to acknowledge the intention here: this isn’t a game to make money, it's not a system seller, and it’s not even a game that we can honestly say you have to download. As a free product, though, it does exactly what you’d need it to do: get you up on your feet a bit more during difficult times, and maybe even put a smile on your face too. Hey, turns out that wasn’t so tough after all.
Comments 25
Glad to here it’s good, I’ll download later today.
I really enjoy it for what it is, I live in an apartment and having a jumping/skipping rope isn't viable so it's a nice excuse to get jumping.
"This is the most important video game to release in over a decade. Touching on what makes us human. Driving us on in the vain pursuit of something we can't reach. It manages to define human existence on all levels." - Mr Phillip Spencer (Doncaster)
"Very detailed back grounds with no load times." - Mr Marcus Cerny (Rochdale)
Was fun for a couple days but not much to keep coming back to. Hopefully they add more activities and make a "Switch Fit" type compilation
It’s ok. It’s free. Kids enjoyed it for a day
"Switch Lite owners will have a tough time playing this"
Not a fan of this being listed as a 'con' for any game that requires motion controls. That's just a compromise you make when you choose the budget model console with less features, not the game's fault.
@GrailUK "Jump Rope Challenge - Nintendo's magnum opus - it simultaneously reaches inside you and grabs your heart, whilst leaving you physically exhausted when you put it down, truly a masterwork of unparalleled excellence and bravery - flying in the face of traditional storytelling and videogame theatre." Jeff Canada (Hartlepool)
@WiltonRoots PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT!!!! (coffee everywhere! Love it!)
This would be cool if they had some games that would allow u to cash in coins for gameplay like Street Pass.
Wow, apparently when Nintendo Devs are locked inside they make great free games. Let's hope mobile game companies don't find out about this...
tbh i hope this leads to more free simple switch games like this from nintendo. heck maybe some NSO exclusives if an online component is compelling enough
@ArtiomNLS of course Ring Fit is better, it was made as a long-term exercise program. It's also super expensive, comes with an obligatory accessory and it's super hard to find because Nintendo could never predict a global pandemic would skyrocket it's demand. So, all things considered, it's really nice that they're trying to address this by making an 100% free-to-play alternative.
I'm sticking to Ring Fit solely, but my boyfriend has actually incorporated Jump Rope Challange to his weight workout and he's using it everyday (you can set the jumps to a maximum of 1000 per day and it caps at that, it doesn't count further). It's very nice for what it is: a free game, no ads, to help get you moving.
This review is a joke! 8? If this game was made by anyone other than Nintendo they wouldn't even consider it worthy of a review! There's hardly anything to do and it gets old very quickly and then to make matters worse, it isn't very accurate - counting skips for you when you have hardly moved or even worse continuing to count skips for you when you have stopped "skipping". On top of that, the presentation is very bland.
If you put it to 2 player and put a joycon in your pocket, it makes for an accurate way to count real skips with a rope. It would be so much better if it was not limited to 1000 skips per day.
I am very impressed with the accuracy of jumping rope in this game. It actually gets my heart-rate higher than any of ring fit's exercises... or... jumping rope in real life. I have a very hard time jumping rope in real life because I keep hitting the darn rope... no problems getting heart rate up here!
It serves as a great warm up before starting ring fit session.
I concur. Definitely a fun way to get jumping (which I’ve heard is a great way to get some cardio in - jumping jacks too!)
Not sure how the “fun for a day or two” complaint make sense. The whole point is to jump rope for a few minutes each day. It’s not meant to grab your attention longer than that. Thanks Nintendo!
Playing every day since launch, good additional exercise to my workout routine.
Disgusted that this isn’t getting a physical release. How dare you, Nintendo.
@BenAV Yeah, that's the fault of the consumer and not a fault of the game in and of itself.
I live in a forest, so I technically have all the room to do some actual rope skipping. But as soon as I get the rope, the dogs get in the way because of the sound it makes. Ring Fit, my punching bag on a tree outside, lifting weights even playing ping pong, almost never any problem (after losing a couple of ping pong balls early on). Rope skipping becomes accidentally dog whipping after 3 seconds (which I obviously don't do), so I downloaded this.
@BenAV Agreed. It's like faulting a game for offering 1080p visuals and then blaming the GAME for the Switch Lite never having an option to dock and display at 1080p.
@dartmonkey Gotta give that 10mb download an 8gb cartridge ASAP!
I'm not really a "complain about free games" kind of guy, especially when they're as good natured as this one, but man, I'm missing something here. I downloaded it and started to play, and realized I was doing much better than I expected. So I went out of my way to try to miss a jump, and it still kept on counting? This game doesn't seem to require timing or good form or anything? It just counts as you shake the joycons, and you're supposed to jump along with it as if it's actually doing something? Seemed pretty pointless to me. And I wanted to like it!
An 8 until it's $5.
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